by Brad Warner

It’s December 8th. That’s a significant date for me for three reasons. I’ll list the stuff I always think of on this day in order that they usually occur to me.

John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980. I’m sure everybody in the “blogosphere” has already written about that by now. The day Lennon died I was just starting 11th grade and I was already a Beatle geek. It’s weird now when I think about the reactions I used to get as a teenager buying Beatles records. I remember a few years earlier, the clerks at Recordland in Rolling Acres Mall in Akron being stunned and amazed that a teenager was not only buying a copy of Revolver but actually knew enough to buy the imported version instead of the US pressing that had fewer songs. That would have been less than ten years after the Beatles broke up and the album itself would have only been about 12 or 13 years old. That’s more recent than the last Nirvana album is today, and I can’t imagine anyone being the least bit surprised by a contemporary 15 year-old liking Nirvana. I don’t know what that signifies, really, if it signifies anything. At the time I just thought that all contemporary music — with the notable exception of KISS — blew. It took a while for punk to finally reach the backwater burg I lived in. By the time Lennon died, though, I was already well into punk. But I never lost my affection for The Beatles.

I first heard about Lennon’s death the following morning when it appeared on the front page of the Wadsworth News Banner, the local paper. I thought it had to be some kind of joke. I had to see it on several other newspapers and TV before I accepted it was true. I still have trouble accepting it’s true. Just recently the contract Lennon signed with Geffen Records in 1980 came to light. Apparently he’d included a clause that allowed him to do future records with The Beatles independently of his obligations to Geffen. So, obviously he must have been thinking about getting the group back together. It’s a real shame that never happened.The other significant thing about December 8th is that it is the day on which Zen Buddhists celebrate Buddha becoming enlightened. Tradition has it that this was the day Buddha had his great moment of profound insight there under the Bodhi tree sometime around about 500 B.C. A lot of people in the Zen tradition commemorate this event by having a period of intensive Zazen practice for a week. It’s called the Rohatsu Sesshin. I’ve never participated in one myself. But it always sounded like fun.

I don’t know if the tradition of celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment day on December 8th is any more valid than the tradition of celebrating Jesus’ birthday on December 25th. It might be, since the early Buddhists were a bit more meticulous about keeping such records than the early Christians. But I’ve never seen much discussion about it either way. Buddhists in general tend not to be overly concerned with whether their history is “literally true.” Whatever works, works.December 8th is also the day on which the Japanese consider the attack on Pearl Harbor to have taken place. To us December 7th is the “Day That Will Live In Infamy.” But, because the international dateline is between Japan and Hawaii, as far as the Japanese are concerned, it happened on the 8th. I didn’t realize this until I moved to Japan — where I lived for 11 years. I once asked to a co-worker upon noting it was December 8th if she knew what day it was. At the time, I just wondered if she’d know it was Buddha’s enlightenment day or if she’d only remember Lennon’s death. I was surprised when she got kind of sheepish about it and finally answered that she knew very well it was Pearl Harbor day.

Most Japanese people seem basically embarrassed by their role in WWII. Of course there are all kinds of issues related to this. But, I’m afraid I’ve never seen the point in endless debates about the matter. I’m no more interested in pushing it than my Japanese friends and relatives are.

Finally, December 8th is usually the day my dad remembers to tell one of his favorite jokes.Did you hear about the guy who was half Japanese and half African-American?

> Most Japanese people seem basically> embarrassed by their role in WWII.> … But, I’m afraid I’ve never seen> the point in endless debates about> the matter.

Oops, there appears to be amisunderstanding here. The pointof a previous post was not to insultthe Japanese, but to remind folksthat both Japanese and Americanswere duped into war by theirgovernments and religions. Thishappens time and time again throughout history with false flag attacks, state-controlled media, anduneducated citizens.And it’s happening now.

I was in Grade 8 (or 8th Grade, as the Yanks say) when Lennon died. I also was a huge Beatles fan. When I was 11 to 13 years old during the late ’70s, I thought the Beatles were an ancient group–and they had only broken up less than 10 years earlier. Funny how a year seemed like forever when I was a kid.

I wasn’t all that depressed about Lennon’s murder, though. My clearest memory about it was when some kids at school were talking about it and they were saying, “Jack Lennon.” I suppose some people named “John” like to be called “Jack,” but in this case, my mates just didn’t know the correct name.

Besides that memory, I’ll never forget the “Double Fantasy” album. It was released shortly before his murder. It’s not a great album, but it has extra significance because of the timing.

I was a huge beatles fan when I was 15 too. It was the mid 70’s and I only knew of one other kid at my high school that liked them. Jesus, Buddha’s enlightenment day and Lennon’s death are tied together for me as well. I’d been doing zazen about 3 years and was mindful that dec. 8th was the anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment. I heard about Lennon being shot that morning before work. I was saddened by the news. I asked my boss if he’d heard what happened. (My boss had recently become a born-again christian conservative) “Yeah, & I hope it’s the death of his hindu god too!” His remark is still clear in memory. I can only imagine his reaction if president Reagan had been assassinated and someone had commented “Yeah, and I hope it’s the death of his christian god too!” As I recall, Lennon’s killer (Chapman) also considered himself a born-again christian.

Double Fantasy also has significance for me. My (future) wife and I often listened to those songs when we first met. Oh, and in the 70’s I used to trip on acid while listening to Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery tour.

I don’t know if the tradition of celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment day on December 8th is any more valid than the tradition of celebrating Jesus’ birthday on December 25th. It might be, since the early Buddhists were a bit more meticulous about keeping such records than the early Christians.

Actually, the question is moot. Even if we did know the day the Buddha was enlightened (and we don’t), which “day” it was depends upon which calendar you use. Calendars are human conventions.

The Indians were horrible about keeping records, the Chinese were much better. Much of what we know about Indian Buddhism comes from the records of Chinese pilgrims who visited India.

The first album I bought was the Beatles’ Revolver. I never cared as much about Lennon’s or McCartney’s solo efforts, but I did like Shaved Fish. I was at Karme Choling doing a dathun (month long meditation retreat) when I heard John Lennon died. One of the few pieces of news that filtered into the retreat. Shows what an old fossil I am.

Interesting. For me (as for most people who were brought up catholic, I suppose), 8 December is the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. I did not know about both the Buddha and the Lennon connection with this date.

That joke about “Pearl Bailey” reminds me of a little slip up my sister made. Does anybody remember this Gordon Lightfoot song from the mid-70s, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, I’m sure if some of you old timers heard it, you’ll say, “Oh, that song.”

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I was having trouble remembering the name of this song. My sister couldn’t remember, either, but then she piped up, “Oh, are you thinking of ‘The Wreck of the Ella Fitzgerald?'”

I was far more affected by George Harrison’s death than John Lennon’s in a general sense. Lennon though was the first person I ever knew (of) that was KILLED – actively, I guess. I’d known a few people that simply DIED, but Lennon was a different story. That affected my half-understood childhood immensely, trying to come to grips with the idea that somebody could hate anybody like John Lennon enough to actively seek his death, to reach out and just execute him like that.

That’s a hard lesson to learn when you’re 11 years old.

I read a really interesting news report on the “survivors of Pearl Harbor” reunion that takes place every 5 yrs, this year being one of them. A lot of the guys that were there are well into their 80s now; their numbers are dwindling steadily and quickly. There was one really poignant sub-story about a guy who is the last living survivor of his ship.

I spent quite a long time living in Germany when I was a kid; I imagine for many Japanese that World War II is merely a history lesson like it is for most Germans. Some aspects of the war are taught merely factually (this is what happened), some are taught somewhat nationalistically (this is what happened, be proud), and some are – of course – taught as warning (this is what happened, be ashamed). The last of these directions has significantly faded (in Germany) in the last generation of education.

I wish US history was taught in the US in the same way, but alas it’s pretty much rah-rah with a little intellectual critique. Oh well.

I remember the moment of hearing of Lennon’s murder. It really shook me up. It felt like I had lost a friend. Such a senseless waste. Lennon had guts, and he stood up for good causes. He caught a lot of flack because of his stand on pacifism. But he affected a lot of people. Growing up during the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Beatles were such a huge force in the world. They affected the lifestyles and attitudes of a whole generation. I doubt that aby band or entertainer will ever have that kind of an effect again. It isn’t possible for anyone who grew up with MTV to understand this. It is a very different world now. (Not better, mind you… just different.)

It is funny but I find myself sort of celebrating the Buddha’s day of enightenment too, even though I don’t believe in “enlightenment” the way most people do.

You are thinking of The Annunciation, which is March 25th. This is when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would give birth to the son of God.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrates the idea that God created Mary’s soul without the “Original Sin” that all humans were born with under normal circumstances. This “Original Sin” was something passed down through the generations from Adam and Eve, and essentially refered to the status of humans as having fallen from God’s grace.

Mary, on the other hand, was conceived with God’s full grace (the immaculate conception), and proceded to live a life completely without sin.

guysI just wondered if any of you had come across U.G Krishnamurti before? – not the same as J Krishnamurti. Some of the things he says are pretty mental. Iconoclastic, but also inpenetrable, perhaps. http://www.well.com/~jct/D